Process of separating water from gas.



H. BLAU.

PROCESS 0F SEPARATING WATER FROM GAS.

APPLxcATloN man FEB. 1. i913.

Patented Nm'. 1b', 12H5.

EflilRlllllANltl' BLAU, 0F AUGSBURG, GERMANY.

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Specication of Letters Patent.

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Application led. February 1, 1913. Serial No. 74253.32.

T o all whom t may concern.' p

Be it lmown that l, HERMANN BLAU, a

subject of the German Bmperor, residing at Augsburg, in the German Empire, have invented certain new and useful' improvements'in and Relatin to Processes of Separating Water from asof lowing 4is a specification.

My invention relates to process for sepa.v

rating water from gas when making liquefied illuminating gas, and it consists in the various steps herein described and particu- `larly pointed outin the appended claims;

An object of my invention isto provide a continuous process by means of which water may be separated from the gas while the latter is being liquefied, so as to prevent the formation of ice in the liquefied gas.

A further bbject of my invention is to provide a process for separating Vwater. from the-gas which can be carried ,out with the section through one form of greatest economy due to the fact that the currents of uncondensed gas, liquefied gas, and water mutually operate upon one another in suchjarnannerl that the highest efficiency for articial cooling is insured.

ther objects'and advantages will appear in the following specification and the novel features ofthe invention will be particularly pointed outg-in the appended claims.

My'invention is illustrated inthe accompanying drawing which is a central vertical apparatus which may be used to advantage in carrying outthe process. f l. i

lt" will be understood that the illustration i isforpurposes of explaining the process and thati other forms of ap aratus mightbe used -Iwithout departing the invention.

Referring then to the drawings l have shown a cooling column B which contains rom the spirit of f bams plates b, these bame'plates extending from opposite walls alternately seas to provide a circuitous therethrou h.

is ose centrally Aof the column D 1s a i cylin er C which is provided with bams tit plates c arranged alternately as are those in column B. t'the top of the cylinder C are o enings c b means of-which communicatlon is estabhshed with the interior of the column B.

Supported on the top of the columnBpis a pipe e which extends into the interior of lwhich the folpath for the gases passing a receptacle E. A drain cock G is provided at the bottom of the receptacle E. A pipe F leads fromxthe top of the. receptacle E and extends part way into'a receptacle S which 1s simllar to the receptacle E, and which is provided with a drain cock. s similar to the drain cock Gr.

A tube T extends upwardly from the receptacles. An outer pipe H communicates at one. end with the interior of the receptacle E, passes upwardly, thence into the tube F, where "it connectsv with an inner pipe K which extends downwardly through the tube e4 and through one side of the column B, thence through the-bottom of the column. A valve J is provided for the outer lFrom the foregoing description of the 'various parts of the apparatus the process maybe readily understood.

.The rawk gases are first compressed and cooled by apparatustnot shown) and the cool compressed gas enters through apipe e A into the bottom of the column B. T

gas passes upwardl in thecolumn B being deflected bythe ba e plates, as stated, and

someof the gas is liquefied. As the gas rises r it is continuously cooled in the column vB.

As the temperature of the'gas decreases the water vapor is' condensed out of the gas and being lheavieivvvill flow downwardly to the bottom of the column B. The uncondensed gas which rises above the-Huid in-the co1- umn` enters through the pipe e into the receptacle E and comes into intimate contact with the pipes K, IO` and N where it is still further coolhd and more of the water vapor iscondensedout ofthe gas. The water Hows down the walls of the receptacle E and col- `lects in the bottom thereof and may be drawn'o through the drain cock G. The gas which is not condensed at thisportion of the a paratus passes on up through the pipe lF an .through the receptacle S where part.

of it is cooled in the pipe 2. The water vapor passes into the receptacle S and be`ing drawn therefrom through the drain cock s.

Part of the liquefied gas in the receptacle E is conveyed by means of the pipe H into the pipe K, the valve J being open. The passage of this liquefied gas into the pipe K causes the latter to become very cold thus tending. to condense the water vapor which comes into contact with it. The saine thing occurs in the upper receptacle S, that isto say, part of the liquefied gas is passed through the pipe V and thence downwardly through the pipe Thus the pipe O forms a cooling pipe for the gas which passes upwardly.

The uncondensed gas at the top of the column B is conducted through the pipe m, the valve M being opened into the pipe N and thence downwardly. As will bereadily seen most of the liquefication of the gas will take place in the column B and this liquefied gas being lighter than'the water will rise to the top of the column where it is drawn ofi through the openings 02 in the central pipe C.

The liquefied gas is supersaturated and the surplus ofthe dissolved gases must therefore beexpelled by heating the liquefied gas to a normal temperature. This is done by compelling the liquefied gas to pass down through the center of' the tube b so that the supersaturated liquefied gas actually extracts heat from the gases coming in through the pipe A and which pass upwardly through the column B. This action serves a twofold purpose, the heating of the supersaturated liquefied gas to normal temperature and the cooling of the gases passing upwardly from the pipe A.

The' liquefied gas which .passes into the interior of the column C may be drawn o' at the bottom of the column, by opening the valve P, into bottles or other containers readyl to receive it. The uncondensed gas which is driven off by the heating of the liquefied gas to the normal temperature, passes upwardly again into the top of the column B and mingles with. that which cornes up from the pipe A.

The cooling effected in the pipes K and O is due to the evaporation 0I liquid admitted through valves J and L and in pipe N, duc to the expansion of. high pressure gases through the valve M. Therefore in the pipes K, O, N there exists a comparatively low pressure for enabling the expansion of the admitted liquid and the high pressure gases whereby the cooling is eifected.

Tt will thus be seen that the process is continuous. Furthermore, the cooling of the incoming gas by the gas which has already heen liquefied tends to provide an arrangement by means of which the highest eflieiency for articial cooling is insured.

i claim:

l. The herein described steps in a process of separating water vapor from gas which consists in cooling, in successive stages, to progressively lower temperatures, a iiiixtui'e of water vapor and gas under pressure, said mixture being constantly made to pass upwardly and removing the gases and water vapor thus liquefied and passed downwardly from the unliqueed portion, the cooling of the gaseous mixture being efi'ected by permitting the uncondensed gases to expand to a lower pressure and also by the evaporation of part of the liquefied gases under low pressure.

2. The herein described steps iii a process of separating water vapor 'from gas, which consists in cooling, insuccessive, stages, to progressively lower temperature, a mixture of water, vapor and gas under pressure and removing the gases and water vaaor thus liquefied from the unliquefied portion, the cooling of the gaseous mixture being effected by permitting the uncondcnsed gases to expand to a lower pressure and also by the evaporation of part of the liquefied gases under low pressure.

ln testimony whereof T afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHANNA STERN. 

